


Studying, Selfies, and Hot Chocolate

by Elennare



Series: Aerois Modern/Human AU series [1]
Category: High Rollers DnD (Web Series)
Genre: (which the boys would die before confessing to each other of course!), Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Mutual Crushes, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:55:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24033148
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elennare/pseuds/Elennare
Summary: A winter's day for the five friends - with one realization of a crush, and one increasingly poor denial of one.
Relationships: Qillek "Quill" Ad Khollar & Lucius Virion-Elluin Elenasto, Qillek "Quill" Ad Khollar/Lucius Virion-Elluin Elenasto
Series: Aerois Modern/Human AU series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2091996
Comments: 6
Kudos: 26





	Studying, Selfies, and Hot Chocolate

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Mr_DeBlob](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mr_DeBlob/gifts).
  * Inspired by [As the Rains Come](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20519867) by [Elennare](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elennare/pseuds/Elennare). 



> For mr_deblob - the prompt was "“I look at him/her/them and I just..it’s like when the Grinch’s heart grows three sizes.” - anxious Quill and equally anxious Lucius". 
> 
> Set in the same universe as [As The Rains Come](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20519867), a few months before that one.

Sentry dropped her head onto her open textbook with an audible thud. “I can’t do this, Quill, I’m not smart enough to be a paramedic,” she said, muffled by her posture.

“Yes you are, you can do it,” Quill replied. “I know you can! Let’s… let’s have a quick break, we’ve been working for ages.”

Sentry sat up and nodded, smiling at Quill. “Tea?”

“Please!” Quill said, and followed her into the kitchen to help.

The pair were revising for exams at Sentry’s place; even though they weren’t preparing for the same one, they had found that working in the same room helped them both to focus. Quill had come over almost at sunrise, and they had been studying hard all morning - a tea break was more than justified. As they were bringing their mugs back into the living room, both their phones buzzed with new messages. 

“Must be the group chat… Who do you think? Lucius or Nova?” Sentry asked, while she hunted for coasters. "Oh, where did I put them?"

“It’s a bit early for both of them really, but it won’t be Aila… Maybe Lucius?” Quill said dubiously, looking around the room. “They’re under that magazine,” he pointed out the coasters.

Sentry grabbed a pair and tossed them onto the coffee table in front of her worn old sofa. “Well, let’s see!”

They sat down next to each other, Sentry pulling her phone out as she did. Quill, not caring to trust either the hot tea or his phone to his prosthetic arm, set his mug down first, then checked his phone. As he had guessed, the message was indeed from Lucius - he’d sent a photo of himself in an incredibly fluffy white hat and scarf he looked very pleased with. _Bought a new hattie and scarfie!_ the message with the selfie read. _What are you all up to? Selfie time!_ Aila was the only one who had replied so far, with a flat _No._ That was hardly a surprise, the only time they ever got photos of Aila was when she and Nova were both in the flat they shared and Nova talked her into it. 

“Let’s send one!” Sentry said. “Oh, wait a minute…” She reached behind her to lift the end of a long vine that trailed down from one of the many plant pots on a high shelf above them, and gently looped it around her neck. “There, scarf! And we can put our notes on our heads as hats?” 

Quill laughed. “Sure, I’ll get them!” 

Jumping up, he grabbed a couple of pages from the big table, then returned to sit by Sentry. Balancing the light sheets was easy enough, and - since Sentry was as bad with cameras as she was good with plants - Quill snapped a photo of them both. While Sentry unwound her ‘scarf’, he sent it to the rest, captioning it simply _Study group!._ Almost at the same time, Nova sent her own selfie, wearing a thick dressing gown and a tragic expression, as she held out an empty tin of hot chocolate powder. _We’re out of hot chocolate, this is a CRISIS,_ her caption read.

“Poor Nova!” Sentry said, with a soft laugh. 

Quill agreed rather absentmindedly, scrolling back up to look at Lucius’s photo again. He should look ridiculous, surely, that hat and scarf were absurd… But somehow he just looked ridiculously cute. He was so obviously delighted with them, too, his whole face lit up by his broad smile, odd-coloured eyes shining…

“I know we've got to study, but we could go this afternoon, don't you think?” Sentry interrupted his musing.

“Huh? What?” Quill looked back at her, bemused.

Sentry frowned, clearly just as puzzled. “Lucius's idea of going for hot chocolate, didn't you get the text?”

“Oh!” Quill scrolled quickly back down, and sure enough, there was a new message from Lucius.

_I know a place that does the BEST hot chocolate, let's all go this afternoon! My treat!_ Two more messages came in simultaneously as he was reading it - one from Aila reminding them she was at work, and one from Lucius clarifying they'd go once Aila was free, _'before you yell at me!'_ Quill and Sentry both laughed at that.

“It does sound nice, and our exams aren't that soon… If we work hard the rest of the day, I don't see why we shouldn't go,” Quill said, smiling at Sentry, as he exchanged his phone for his mug.

Sentry grinned back. “Oh, good! When you didn't say anything when Lucius suggested it, I thought you might be thinking we should be responsible and stay in to study.”

“Oh, no, I was distracted, sorry… I was just… looking at the photos…” he trailed off, not sure where he wanted to go with that, and sipped at his tea.

Sentry tilted her head thoughtfully. “All the photos?”

Quill sipped his tea again, trying to stall, and knowing it wouldn’t work. Sure enough, Sentry just kept looking at him, waiting with her usual patience for his answer. If he deflected the question she might let it go… But he didn’t want to deflect it, he realized, he wanted to talk to her about this.

“No, just Lucius’s,” he admitted with a sigh. “He… I look at him and I just…” he trailed off again for a moment, trying to find a way to explain it; all that came to mind for some reason was, “It’s… it’s like when the Grinch’s heart grows three sizes.”

“Quill… that sounds like you have a crush on Lucius. Do you?” Sentry said, then added, “And you’re not a Grinch!”

That made Quill laugh despite himself. “I know it was a silly example, it was just all I could think of… It’s your fault, you made us watch it when we did that Christmas movie night! And I still like The Snowman better.”

Sentry didn’t point out he was stalling; she didn’t need to, her raised eyebrows did it for her. “Do you have a crush on Lucius?” she repeated gently.

Quill took a deep breath. “I… I think… I think I do.” He looked away for a moment, embarrassed, then back at her. “Oh, Sentry, I’ve got a crush on Lucius… and you don’t look surprised.”

“I’ve thought for a while you might have,” she said, with a soft smile. “I wasn’t sure though, so I didn’t want to bring it up unless you said something first.”

Quill smiled back. “You know me too well,” he said. Then, suddenly worried, he added, “You won't say anything to him, or to anyone, will you?” 

“Quill, no! Of course not! Not unless you ask me to,” Sentry answered. Quill started to relax and lean back, then shot back upright as she continued, “You should tell him, though.”

“What - no - I - no!” Quill stammered, panicked. “I - I can't - and neither can you, promise me you won't, Sentry, please!”

“I promise, Quill. Really, I won't say anything,” Sentry said, putting down her mug and squeezing his arm. “Trust me.”

“I do,” Quill replied softly. 

“Why can't you tell him, though?” she asked.

“I… It's just a dumb crush. I don't even know him all that well, really! And - and we've been having so much fun together, all five of us, I don't want to - to make things weird?”

Sentry looked at him searchingly, then nodded. “All right, if you're sure…” 

“I'm sure,” Quill said firmly. 

“You will come this afternoon, though, won’t you?”

“Oh, of course! I can’t miss the best hot chocolate, can I? And if we’re going, we should get some work done now.”

Sentry smirked. “Are you just saying that because you’re being responsible, or because you want to stop talking about this?”

“Um, yes?” Quill said, laughing. 

“All right, I won’t tease you about it, I think it’s lovely,” Sentry said, with a smile. “You’re right though, we should work! I’ll just tell the others we’ll go this afternoon, and then we can get back to revising.”

Quill nodded and waited for her, thoughts jumbling confusedly in his head. He had a crush on Lucius… he hadn’t put it into words for himself until Sentry asked, but really, it wasn’t a shock or a surprise. Deep down, he thought he’d known all along. He wasn’t quite so sure about what he’d said when she asked why he couldn’t tell Lucius, though… He hadn’t been lying, he would hate to mess up this strange and wonderful friendship group they’d somehow found, but it wasn’t everything. Lucius was… was so charming, and handsome, and talented, and… and surely he’d never look at Quill as more than a friend? Quill could picture Sentry’s face if he said that, though, how she’d worry about him, so he said nothing more.

* * *

Warm and cozy in his new hat and scarf, Lucius looked around in the gathering dusk, trying to watch both ways at once. He’d arrived early, and it seemed that thanks to the vagaries of buses all his friends were late. He could just see Nova and Aila’s bus stop far down the street to his left, still devoid of any buses; Quill and Sentry’s was the other way and out of sight round the corner. The streets were bustling with people, lit by the bright shop windows and the streetlights that were starting to come on. Still, Lucius thought he shouldn’t have too much trouble spotting his friends, between Sentry’s height and Aila’s distinctive red hair. Though he was trying to split his attention evenly, he kept finding himself looking to the right… Well, he could see there was no bus arriving at Aila and Nova’s stop with just a glance, it was reasonable to be looking out more for Quill and Sentry, he told himself. That excuse sounded flimsy even to his own ears, and he swung his head sharply back to the left. When no bus appeared after a few seconds, though, he found himself turning again… Oh, that was Sentry, wasn’t it, cutting through the crowds? There couldn’t be many women that tall and with coats that precise shade of green - and yes, he could see Quill’s dark red coat behind her, hurrying to keep up. Lucius lifted a hand to wave enthusiastically at them, and Quill immediately waved back. 

“Hi! Sorry we’re late, the bus took ages,” Sentry said as they ran up to him, both a little breathless. “Aren’t Nova and Aila here yet?”

“No, not yet. It’s nice to see you both!” Lucius said. Then, unable to resist the temptation, he asked, “So, what do you think of my new things?”

“You - you look very nice, Lucius,” Quill said with a smile, cheeks flushed - from the running, perhaps, or the cold? 

“Oh, thank you, Birdie! So do you,” Lucius replied, then immediately wondered why he’d added the last part. It was true, but why on earth had he said it out loud? Flustered, he turned to Sentry. “What do you think, Sentry?”

“They’re lovely, and they look very warm,” Sentry said, adding with a chuckle, “I’m afraid I left my new scarf at home, it wasn’t very warm really.”

Lucius laughed too, remembering the photo they’d sent that morning. “How did the studying go?” Too late, he saw Quill’s slight head shake and wide eyes, but he’d already asked it.

“I’m going to fail!” Sentry announced with remarkable cheerfulness. “I will never understand chemistry.”

“No you’re not,” Quill said, in a tone that made Lucius guess he’d said that more than once today. “There’s lots of time still! You’ll get it.”

“I don’t know - Oh, look, there are Aila and Nova!” Sentry waved and began heading down the street. 

Sure enough, as the other two looked over, they could see Aila’s red head rising out of the crowds, and occasionally glimpse Nova’s blue hair next to her.

Turning to follow Sentry, Lucius stepped back next to Quill and murmured, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know…”

“It’s fine, don’t - don’t worry about it,” Quill replied. He reached awkwardly across his body to press Lucius’s arm for a second, then pulled back. “She’s just nervous, she’ll be fine.”

Lucius nodded, mentally scolding himself for standing on Quill’s left. For a split second he wondered if he should move to his other side, but that would probably make Quill feel self-conscious if he realized why Lucius had done it - and he would, he was so smart. Lucius should have thought about it sooner! And yet why would he have thought about it, it wasn’t as if they were going to hold hands or anything - where had _that_ come from? 

Pulling his mind hurriedly away from that particular thought, he asked, “Was this hot chocolate thingie a bad idea? Were you going to keep studying tonight?”

“No, no, we’ve been working all day, we needed a break. It - it was a great idea,” Quill said, smiling up at him.

Lucius smiled back, absurdly pleased by that. There was no time for more private conversation, as they caught up with the girls at that point, and everything became a flurry of greetings. With those over, Lucius had to turn guide and lead them to the cafe. They didn’t take bookings (Lucius had tried), but fortunately it wasn’t too full and they were able to find a table for the five of them. As they walked across the cafe, Lucius noticed Quill and Sentry seemed to be having a quiet argument in nudges and whispers; but with Nova interrogating him as to the different types of hot chocolate served here, he couldn’t work out what it was about. Something about her exam worries, perhaps? Still, by the time they were all seated - Quill and Lucius on one side of the table, Nova and Aila opposite them, while Sentry pulled up a chair to one end after waving Quill to his seat - it seemed to be over, Quill shaking his head at Sentry but smiling at her too.

“Oh! How’s the revision going?” Nova asked suddenly, and Lucius heard Quill sigh under his breath.

“No, no exam talk,” Lucius cut hastily across before anyone else could speak. “We’re here for chocolate and a breakie, not for exam talk! Here, you take these menus, Quill and I can share this one. Remember, it’s my treat! So get anything you like.”

Nova looked rather puzzled, but took the menu he handed to her. “Okay, no exam talk… ooh! Chocolate lava cake!”

“With hot chocolate? Isn’t it too much?” Sentry asked.

“Please don’t make yourself ill with too much chocolate,” Aila added.

“No such thing as too much chocolate!” Nova retorted.

Chuckling at the good-natured bickering, Quill reached out to open the menu he and Lucius were sharing. “Thank you,” he murmured very softly, under cover of the others’ talk.

“You’re welcome,” Lucius replied just as quietly.

Quill’s eyes twinkled at him for a moment, then he turned to the menu. Lucius watched him a second longer, then hurriedly looked at the menu too, hoping no-one had noticed… Not that there was anything at all to notice, really, was there? That thought kept coming back again and again throughout the evening. Of course he was delighted by everyone’s enjoyment of his idea - by Sentry’s faintly worried expression turning to peaceful contentment as she cupped her warm mug in her hands; by Nova’s look of sheer joy as the waiter set down what probably was far too much chocolate in front of her; by Aila leaning across the table to punch him lightly on the shoulder (still making him wince, but he knew it was her way of showing her appreciation). But somehow, it was Quill he found himself looking at as they all took their first sips of hot chocolate, anxious to know what he thought; it was Quill’s soft laugh he was listening for the most when he made jokes. When they finally left the cafe, as everyone was thanking him for suggesting this while they said their goodbyes, it was Quill’s thanks that made him smile the broadest… It really wasn’t anything, there wasn’t anything happening for anyone to notice, but still, he hoped no-one had.

**Author's Note:**

> (In case it isn't clear, Sentry and Quill's "argument" was Sentry nudging Quill to go sit next to Lucius :) )

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [After The Storm](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26134585) by [Elennare](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elennare/pseuds/Elennare)
  * [What It's Like](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29809275) by [Elennare](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elennare/pseuds/Elennare)




End file.
